"Today, we are going to talk about improvement activities", which sounds a lot like something my mother would have said back in my teenage years. I don't know what else she said after that opening line because that phrase was guaranteed to make me think of other things and generally tune her out. But we are all adults here, so I know I will have your full and undivided attention when I say "Today, we are going to talk about improvement activities" in the MIPS sense of the phrase. And, just to add further interest, we'll cover Advancing Care Information as well.
Formally, Improvement Activities are designed to reward providers for care focused on care coordination, beneficiary engagement, and patient safety with your improvement activities score comprising 15% of your total MIPS score.
According to the MIPS website, there are only two things that need to be done. Access the MIPS Improvement Activities page and select the activities that best fit your practice. Please note that activities are designated as high weight or medium weight. For practices consisting of less than 15 clinicians, 1 high weight or 2 medium weight activities need to be selected. Practices with 15 or more providers should select up to 4 activities equaling 40 points (medium weight is worth 10 points each and high weight is worth 20 points each). You will then attest to completion of the selected activities for a minimum of 90 days.
We recommend that you use
There are a grand total of 92 activities listed on the MIPS website from which you can make your selection. Rather than read all 92, you can search by keyword, subcategory name, and activity weighing (medium and high weight are the two categories), See the picture below for an example of filter options.
In the above example, a search by keyword (Vitamin K), Subcategory Name (Population Management), and high Activity Weighing yields only one activity: Anticoagulant management improvements. Clicking on the activity will then display specific definitions and criteria for meeting the activity requirements.
And now, lets move on to Advancing Care Information. You will want to consult your EHR provider about this category. For our AuroraEHR users, you should be able to use Aurora just as you did for 2016.
The big change from years past is that the pass/fail scoring system no longer applies. Instead, a more rigorous grading system will be in effect; it's kind of like the difference between report cards from high school and kindergarten. For example, under the previous pass/fail system it was possible to pass with just 10% of patients getting Patient Education materials. Now, if 11% of patients get the materials, you will get only 1out of 10 points, and if you hit 100%, you will get 10 out 10 points. We can foresee that this will cause some difficulties with certain measures, such as those involving the patient portal. Fortunately, the scoring is set up so that many extra points are available. So, the emphasis is now on complete usage, not merely getting a "pass" grade which again, sounds something like my mother used to say back when I was a teenager!
Formally, Improvement Activities are designed to reward providers for care focused on care coordination, beneficiary engagement, and patient safety with your improvement activities score comprising 15% of your total MIPS score.
According to the MIPS website, there are only two things that need to be done. Access the MIPS Improvement Activities page and select the activities that best fit your practice. Please note that activities are designated as high weight or medium weight. For practices consisting of less than 15 clinicians, 1 high weight or 2 medium weight activities need to be selected. Practices with 15 or more providers should select up to 4 activities equaling 40 points (medium weight is worth 10 points each and high weight is worth 20 points each). You will then attest to completion of the selected activities for a minimum of 90 days.
We recommend that you use
- Administration of the AHRQ Survey of Patient Safety Culture
- Collection and use of patient experience and satisfaction data on access
There are a grand total of 92 activities listed on the MIPS website from which you can make your selection. Rather than read all 92, you can search by keyword, subcategory name, and activity weighing (medium and high weight are the two categories), See the picture below for an example of filter options.
And now, lets move on to Advancing Care Information. You will want to consult your EHR provider about this category. For our AuroraEHR users, you should be able to use Aurora just as you did for 2016.
The big change from years past is that the pass/fail scoring system no longer applies. Instead, a more rigorous grading system will be in effect; it's kind of like the difference between report cards from high school and kindergarten. For example, under the previous pass/fail system it was possible to pass with just 10% of patients getting Patient Education materials. Now, if 11% of patients get the materials, you will get only 1out of 10 points, and if you hit 100%, you will get 10 out 10 points. We can foresee that this will cause some difficulties with certain measures, such as those involving the patient portal. Fortunately, the scoring is set up so that many extra points are available. So, the emphasis is now on complete usage, not merely getting a "pass" grade which again, sounds something like my mother used to say back when I was a teenager!
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